Architecture

• Mississippian Native Americans lived in structures made of mud, timber and thatch. Unlike their predecessors, these houses were square-shaped. They also built large earthen mounds with flat surfaces to act as the base for public buildings and residences of the elite. The holes where the dirt was dug from became artificial fishing ponds. A palisade, or wall made of wooden poles covered in mud plaster, was often built around a town.
  
  

Agriculture

• The main crops cultivated by the Mississippian Native Americans were maize (corn), beans, squash, pumpkins and sunflowers. The women of the society tended these. Fields were not divided between each crop as they are today. They were all grown together and in fact, the sunflower stalks provided shade for the lower-growing plants and something for the bean vines to wrap around.
  
  

Artifacts

• Hoes called celts were used in gardening. They were made from whatever stone was available, but some were specifically made from polished greenstone and most likely used in ceremonies. Canoes, made from fire-hollowed trees, were the main long-distance transportation devices. A game called chunkey existed where one person tossed a large stone disc and the other had to throw a spear where he thought the disc would land.
  
  

Politics

• Chiefdoms consisted of defined floodplain environments. Chiefs operated out of temple mound structures and were responsible for overseeing distribution of food within the territory. Other duties and powers are up for speculation. Chiefdoms were most likely small and constantly in flux, depending on how prolific crops were each season. The appearance of a unified culture along religious and political lines is not completely accurate. The fact that similar artifacts are located in different chiefdoms can be explained by understanding the trade network of the Mississippian tribes, which involved exchanging crops for handicrafts.